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ARCHIVED — Vol. 145, No. 47 — November 19, 2011

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Whereas quinoline is a substance on the Domestic Substances List identified under subsection 73(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999;

Whereas a summary of the screening assessment report conducted on quinoline pursuant to section 74 of the Act is annexed hereby; and

Whereas quinoline meets one or more of the criteria set out in section 64 of the Act,

Notice therefore is hereby given that the Ministers of the Environment and of Health propose to recommend to His Excellency the Governor in Council that quinoline be added to Schedule 1 to the Act.

Notice is furthermore given that the Ministers of the Environment and of Health are releasing a proposed risk management approach document for quinoline on the Government of Canada’s Chemical Substances Web site (www.chemicalsubstances.gc.ca) to continue discussions with stakeholders on the manner in which the Ministers intend to develop a proposed regulation or instrument respecting preventive or control actions in relation to quinoline.

Public comment period on the proposed risk management approach document

Any person may, within 60 days after publication of the proposed risk management approach document, file with the Minister of the Environment written comments on the risk management approach document. More information regarding the proposed risk management approach may be obtained from the Government of Canada’s Chemical Substances Web site (www. chemicalsubstances.gc.ca). All comments must cite the Canada Gazette, Part Ⅰ, and the date of publication of this notice and be sent to the Executive Director, Program Development and Engagement Division, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0H3, 819-953-7155 (fax), substances@ec.gc.ca (email).

In accordance with section 313 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, any person who provides information in response to this notice may submit with the information a request that it be treated as confidential.

PETER KENTMinister of the Environment

LEONA AGLUKKAQMinister of Health

ANNEX

Summary of the Screening Assessment Report on Quinoline

Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), the Ministers of the Environment and of Health have conducted a screening assessment of quinoline, Chemical Abstracts Service Registry No. 91-22-5, which was a substance on the Domestic Substances List selected for a pilot project for screening assessments.

Quinoline is naturally associated with coal and coal-derived compounds and may be formed as a trace pollutant during incomplete combustion of nitrogen-containing substances. Potential sources of quinoline release to water include discharges of creosote, coal tar and associated contaminated groundwater from contaminated sites at former coal gasification plants (or gasworks) and former and existing steel plants equipped with coke ovens, coal tar distillation facilities, wood impregnation plants and aluminum smelters. Much of the quinoline monitoring information is related to past industrial activities. It should be noted that environmental protection measures have been implemented in Canada, in particular for steel plants equipped with coke ovens and for wood preservation facilities. In the case of abandoned gasworks, many sites have been the object of restoration plans due to provincial and federal legislation. Although these initiatives have targeted pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, they should also be effective in addressing quinoline contamination. In addition, creosote-impregnated waste materials from creosote-contaminated sites, PAHs and benzene have been placed on Schedule 1 of CEPA 1999.

Quinoline has been measured in the atmosphere of urban areas. Due to known releases of PAHs, air emissions of quinoline are also likely associated with steel plants equipped with coke ovens and aluminum smelters. Atmospheric releases reported to the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) in 2009 totalled 390 kg, and 82 tonnes were transferred off-site as waste for incineration. No release to water was reported. Releases were reported to the NPRI by chemical manufacturers, chemical product manufacturers, and an iron foundry.

Based on a survey conducted under section 71 of CEPA 1999, one or more companies in Canada reported manufacture or import of quinoline in excess of 20 000 kg during the calendar year 2000, in the form of mixtures which contained quinoline at a composition of less than 1%.

Quinoline has been detected in coal tar-based products, such as seal coats used on parking lots and driveways and creosote used in the past as a preservative in the lumber and wood industries. Presently, there is one commercial brush-on product containing creosote registered for remedial treatment of cuttings for installing the railway ties and piers and two commercial products for use only within wood treatment facilities. Quinoline is not a registered active ingredient or formulant in pesticides in Canada.

Environment

Quinoline is not persistent in surface waters. This substance has been shown to be biodegradable in soil under conditions favouring the growth of microorganisms. However, field evidence suggests that quinoline is difficult to degrade by microorganisms living in deep soil and groundwater. In general, these media offer poor conditions for biodegradation, such as low oxygen levels, low temperatures and few carbon sources. An absence of significant degradation of quinoline associated with the occurrence of coal tar in soils has been frequently observed. Quinoline is expected to persist in air in wintertime with an atmospheric half-life exceeding 99 hours.

Based on level III fugacity modelling of the substance’s fate in the environment, if released to surface water, quinoline will remain for the most part in that compartment. Similarly, if released to soil, the molecule will remain mainly in soil. If released to the atmosphere, because of its relatively low volatility, 82% of quinoline will partition to soil and surface water, and the remainder will stay in air. According to a model (TaPL3) assessing the long-range transport potential of substances, quinoline is predicted to be transported for long distances (e.g. > 1 500 km) in water, but not in the atmosphere.

Quinoline has a low potential to bioaccumulate. It has been shown that biotransformation of quinoline in bacteria, fish and laboratory mammals leads to the formation of an active epoxide intermediate. Some epoxide forms can bind to proteins and nucleic acids and potentially lead to genotoxicity. Consistent with this metabolic activation, quinoline has been shown to be genotoxic in both in vivo and in vitro assays.

Quinoline is not routinely measured in any environmental medium in Canada, and few sampling data were available for this assessment. However, quinoline is a constituent of coal tar and creosote, and any current or past industrial activity that has released coal tar or creosote into the environment has included the release of quinoline. Most often, releases are to the subsurface as a result of leaking storage tanks, and pools of pure coal tar have been discovered at many abandoned gasworks sites, many of which reaching nearby watercourses.

For the ecological portion of this screening assessment, an exposure scenario was designed whereby a contaminated groundwater plume containing quinoline develops from a pure coal tar pool in the soil and eventually comes into contact with surface waters. It was based on field observations of coal tar plumes made at abandoned gasworks sites and coke oven sites in Canada. This exposure scenario would be relevant to current industrial applications producing or handling coal tar or creosote on-site, including coal tar distillation plants, creosoting plants and roofing felt and tarred paper manufacturing facilities, as well as abandoned gasworks and coke ovens, where storage and disposal of coal tar and creosote have led to a release of these chemical mixtures to the subsurface. Estimated dissolved quinoline concentrations were many times above the predicted no-effect concentration of 3.4 µg/L calculated for fish. Based on the risk quotients calculated in this assessment, quinoline has the potential to cause harmful effects to groundwater microorganisms, organisms living at the sediment-water interface, and early life stages of fish found on spawning grounds.

On the basis of ecological hazard and reported releases of quinoline, it is concluded that this substance is entering the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that have or may have an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment or its biological diversity.

Human health

On the basis of the empirical evidence that increased incidences of unusual tumours were observed in multiple strains of rats and mice exposed to quinoline orally, the critical effect for the characterization of risk of quinoline to human health is considered to be carcinogenicity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had previously drawn the same conclusion. In addition, in experimental studies, quinoline also exhibited effects causing damage to DNA and altering cell reproduction and regeneration. Therefore, although the mode of induction of tumours of quinoline has not been fully elucidated, it cannot be precluded that the tumours observed in experimental animals resulted from direct interaction of quinoline or its metabolites with genetic materials, for which there may be a probability of harm at any level of exposure.

General population exposure to quinoline is expected mainly through inhalation. Comparison of the critical effect level for non-cancer effects with the upper-bounding estimate of exposure results in a margin of exposure of approximately five orders of magnitude. This margin of exposure for non-cancer effects is considered adequate.

On the basis of the carcinogenicity of quinoline, together with potential for general population exposure, it is concluded that quinoline is a substance that may be entering the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that constitute or may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health.

Conclusion

Based on available information for environmental and human health considerations, quinoline meets one or more of the criteria set out in section 64 of CEPA 1999.

The Screening Assessment Report on quinoline and the proposed risk management approach document for this substance are available on the Government of Canada’s Chemical Substances Web site (www.chemicalsubstances.gc.ca).

Where relevant, research and monitoring will support verification of assumptions used during the screening assessment and, where appropriate, the performance of potential control measures identified during the risk management phase.

DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT
RADIOCOMMUNICATION ACT

Notice No. SMSE-015-11 — TRC-49, Issue 8

Notice is hereby given that Industry Canada is releasing TRC-49, Issue 8, Telecommunications and Radio Equipment Service Fees of the Certification and Engineering Bureau.

The above document has been updated to clarify the fee structure for equipment registration services rendered by the Certification and Engineering Bureau of Industry Canada. The fees are based on the Telecommunications and Radio Apparatus Fee Order that was introduced in September 2007.

Interested parties should submit their comments within 75 days of the date of publication of this notice. Soon after the close of the comment period, all comments received will be posted on Industry Canada’s Spectrum Management and Telecommunications Web site at www.ic.gc.ca/spectrum.

Submitting comments

Respondents are requested to provide their comments in electronic format (WordPerfect, Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF) to the following email address: telecom.reg@ic.gc.ca, along with a note specifying the software, version number and operating system used.

All submissions should cite the Canada Gazette, Part Ⅰ, the publication date, the title and the notice reference number (SMSE-015-11).

Obtaining copies

Copies of this notice and of documents referred to herein are available electronically on Industry Canada’s Spectrum Management and Telecommunications Web site at www.ic.gc.ca/spectrum.

Official versions of Canada Gazette notices can be viewed at www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/index-eng.html. Printed copies of the Canada Gazette can be ordered by telephoning the sales counter of Publishing and Depository Services at 613-941-5995 or 1-800-635-7943.

October 13, 2011

MARC DUPUISDirector GeneralEngineering, Planning and Standards Branch

[47-1-o]

Footnote 1
The Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number (CAS RN) is the property of the American Chemical Society and any use or redistribution, except as required in supporting regulatory requirements and/or for reports to the Government when the information and the reports are required by law or administrative policy, is not permitted without the prior, written permission of the American Chemical Society.